Steam actuated rotary drilling control



June 16, 1931. P. JONES STEAM ACTUATED ROTARY' DRILLING CONTROL 2 Sheets-Sheet Original Filed Dec. 10, 1927 PHILIP JONES [NYE-NW 72.0.1 0.

A rToRA/Er June 16,- 1931. P. JONES STEAM AGTUATED ROTARY DRILLING CONTROL Origmal Filed Dec. 10, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A Q Z2 PHILIP JONES 7D IVENTOR AT RNEV.

Patented June 16, 1931' i TEf rates.

V rrrrtrr JONES,I'OF LOS ANGELES, cALrroB IA seam A GTUAT ED ROTARY DRILLING CONTROL Original applicatimi filed December 10, 1927," Serial No. 239,143. Divided and this application filed H J'une a 1929. Serial "no. 373,370.

' This application is adivision of mycopending application entitled Steam actuated automaticdrilling control, filed December 10, 1927, under Serial No. 239,143.

'; Y 5 '-The primarypurpose of my invention is to provide means for --'automatically feeding rotary well-boring tools at such rate that the drilling efiect'by such tools, and the torsional stress on the drill pipe by which they 19 are rotated,- shall be substantially constant.

p In drilling wells by the rotary method the drill bit is kept in constant revolution on the bottom of'the hole by-means of a string of drill pipe through which a -streamfoi" mudladen fluid is conducted. to the bottom of the hole, this fluid washing away the bit outtings and carrying them to the surface out side of the drill pipe. This pipe is revolved by a rotary table geared to a suitable source passing through a corresponding opening in upper end-of the drill pipe string. The. entire weight of the drill string, cannot be allowed to rest on the bit'which cuts on its end face onlyas the great weight of such string in even a relatively shallow hole would look the bit solidly on the bottom, causing. the pipe to be twisted ofll'il the 'rotative er 7 the upper end of the string were con:

fort at tinned.

The drill pipe is therefore suspended from the upper part of'the' derrick :byvmeans :of

a Wire line rove through a pair of multiple blocks (crown block and travelling block),

one end of this line being spooled on a winding. drum with =brakes,-jby the rotation of which the. drillstring is raised or lowered.

The opposite end of the'line maysbe deadended, but ismore commonly spooled ion the calf wheel drum, from Twhiclrit may .bepaid out as required. nections, such as a hook attached to the low- 7 er or travelling-block, a swivel, and anele-o 5 vat'or clamped around the upper end :of the drill string, permit the latter to. rotate whilethe block and'lines retain a substantially fixed-position.

of power, a squared pipe or Kelley joint inefficient operation.

Suitable intermediate cenv In drilling by the rotary method the rate of progress in depth, for any'givenhardnes's of the material being penetrated by the bit, will vary directly with the downward pres= sure exerted on the bit. As this pressure is necessarily less than that exerted by the weight of the drill string, the rate will vary I inversely, for any given weight of string, with the'load carried by the feeding unit,-

Which may be varied at will by the. operator.

sure which will set up the highest torsional stress which safety. 7 V

In; rotary drilling without the use of any the drill pipe will carrywith kind of automatic control the rate of feed a is controlled manually by the operator, who releases a small amount of line from the winding drum at short intervals, thus paying the drill string downward. l During these 7 intervals the elasticity of the line and other parts of the supportingmechanism continueto lower the bit at a decreasing rate until it substantially ceases to make hole. The dis- I advantages of such manual control are evidentf The bit can operate at its maximum pressure andefliciency only during an exceedingly brief period after paying out line, and an error in judgment by the operator in releasing too much or too little line will either freeze the bit and cause a twist-oil or will sustain the bit at too low a pressure, causing; The operator having no guide to torsional stress other than the growl of the drive gearing, the speed ofthe prime mover or similar phenomena having only a loosely indicative value, and a twistofl bein'g an expensive and painful OCCIlT- rence,fis likely to keep on thesafesidebyQ It follows that, in spite of'the greatest I skill and vigilance, manual control cannot possibly make hole at anywhere near the rate obtainable where the feed is definitely controlled by the torsional stress in such manner that the latter may be maintained constant at its safe maximum.

To overcome these disadvantages of manual control many automatic or semi-automa-tic devices have heretofore been proposed, such for instance as various applications of differential gearing, hydraulic jacks controlled by levers or other mechanical linkage, and devices in which the weight of the drill string is partially supported by the pressure of the mud-laden fluid circulated therethrough.

All these devices are burdened by excessive complication. The differential gear apparatus is responsive and dependable, if properly designed, but is almost prohibitively expensive both as to first cost and maintenance and is not readily adaptable to existing, nearly standardized drilling machinery. The hydraulic systems heretofore proposed are not sufliciently responsive, are liable to failure from unforeseen causes, and are too costly to be practicable. The floating de vices are relatively cheap but fail completely in any case of loss of fluid due to penetration of a porous stratum, and fail to maintain the requisite constant pressure on the-bit.

In my invention these objections are largely overcome by the use of a hydraulic suspension for the drill string, so arranged that the pressure of the fluid in the hydraulic cylinder is governed by an automatic distribution of the steam supplied to the engine driving the rotating mechanism. Because of its extreme simplicity in all of its various forms this arrangement is cheap and readily maintained, is dependable as to the maintenance of a constant pressure on the bit, is sharply responsive to changes in character of material encountered, and is readily adapted to any steam driven rotary drilling unit (to which its usefulness is restricted) without departing in any particular from standard construction.

My basic invention-the control of pressure in the hydraulic unit-by an automatic or, spontaneous distribution of the steam supplied to the driving engine-may be applied in various ways and by various means without in the lea-st departing from its spirit. One such application is illustrated, without limiting my invention to the specific forms disclosed, in the accompanying drawings and the following description thereof. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows in diagrammatic elevation a simple application of my method invention, in which the speed of the pump supplying fluid to the hydraulic unit is manually controlled and the variable pressure of steam in the pipe supplying the cylinder of the driving engine actuates a valve by which the escape of fluid from the hydraulic unit is controlled.

Fig. 2 shows in diagrammatic elevation, on a reduced scale, a modification in the application of my invention in which the jack, being set at or near the level of the derrick floor, may be given a much greater length than is permissible when it is placed in the position indicated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating a valve such as indicated at 28 in Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1, numeral 5 indicates a hydraulic unit suspended by any preferred means from the travelling block 6. This unit comprises av cylinder 7, a piston 8 longitudinally slidable therein, a piston rod 9 rigidly afiixed to said piston, and a stufling box 10 through which the piston rod may reciprocate without substantial leakage.

A vent 11 provided at the upper end of said cylinder for the maintenance of atmospheric pressure above the piston. The lower end of the piston rod is attached by any preferred means to the upper end 12 of the Kelley joint, this means including a swivel (not shown) by which the hydraulic unit is relieved from rotation as the drill string rotates. A pipe or other connection 13 is provided at the lower end of cylinder 7 for the introduction and release of the fluid by which the piston 8 is actuated.

The hydraulic unit above described is commonly known and used and I lay no claim to its use other than as a means for putting my invention into application.

A steam actuated drilling engine of any preferred type is indicated at 14, this engine driving the rotary table 15 through suitable transmission apparatus diagrammatically illustrated at 3939 in Fig. 1. The engine is supplied with steam from a boiler or other source of supply not shown, through a main steam line 16 controlled by a valve 17 and communicating without further control with the drilling engine 14. This valve is used to control the speed of the drilling engine by setting it at apreferred speed with a preferred pressure on the bit. As 17 is a throt tling valve the pressure in line 16 below the valve is less than the pressure in the line above the valve.

A branch pipe 18 controlled by a manually operated valve 19 communicates with pipe 16 above the control valve 17 and admits steam at boiler pressure to the steam cylinder 20 of the pump 21. This pump takes suction on its water end 22 through suction pipe 23 from a tank 24, and discharges the water or other fluid through a flexible tube 25 to the hydraulic unit 5, Fig. 1, or the hydraulic unit 35, Fig. 2.

A branch line 26 connected intopipe 16 below the. control valve 17 conducts steam to a weighted diaphragm 27, the movement of which controls the, opening of a variable orifice .128 placed in .a pipe :29 which-com- .smimica-tes withpipe .25 and is vented into tank 24. The connections between :th-e dia 'phragm and the orifice should be such that lustrated in Fig. 3 in which 28 is a body similar to that of'the, well known globe valve, having a partition 42 in which is formed a seat 43 adapted to be closed by a tapered plug 44. To this plug is attached a pin 45' passing through a stufiing box 46. The diaphragm chamber 27 is provided with a, flexible diaphragm and the closed vessel thus formed is so spaced from the fitting, asby the straps 41, that thepin bears lightly V on the diaphragm when the chamber is under atmospheric pressure and the plug is fully withdrawn. In this position of the plug an annular passage is left between plug and seat for the passage of liquid.

The diaphragm chamber is filled with steam, from pipe 26 and as the steam pressure in this pipe increases the diaphragm is distended, advancing the tapered plug into I the seat and thus'restricting the, annular opening.

; illustrative only.

It is desirable in practice to use a more refined type of valve, the fitting shownbeing Preferably the valve should be so constructed that the fluid pressure transmitted through pipe 29 to the under side of the plug is balanced within the valve and does no come against the diaphragm. Many such valves are well known and understood.

Fig. 2 shows an application of my inven- 1 tion in which the hydraulic jack, being set on or near the level of the derrick floor, may

; be given a much greater length than is permissible when-it is placed in the position indicated in Fig. 1, between the drill string swivel and the travelling block. 7

Referring to Fig.2, the outline of a derrick 1 is indicated at 29 and the drilling line at 30.

This line is spooled at one end on the winding drum 31 and at the other on the calf wheel drum 32, passing from the latter over a fixed sheave 33, then through asheave moved by the piston of hydraulic unit 35,

and is rove th'roughthe crown block 36 and the travelling block 37 in the usual manner. The pipe 38 communicating with the interior of thejack is connected to the pipe 25 indicated in Fig. 1; 'This jack lifts tools by a downward movement of the piston instead of by an'upward movement as in the jack shown in Fig. 1.- This arrangement is a generalization of current practice in rigging and is no part of my present inventlon except insofar as it is used inconneetion with ter valsto maintain a constant rateof"dis charge through pipe 25. Better control over the dischargeof the pumpmay be maintained by interposing in pipe 25, at any point between the pump andthe junction of pipe 25 with the pipe 29, a sensitive fluid meter by which the actual discharge of the pump may be timed, thus eliminating any question as to internal slip in the pump.

Still better regulation'of pump discharge may be automatically obtained by substitut ing for the simple type of pump shown a fiy wheelor engine driven pump,.the speed of which may be controlled by a governor.

It will be understood thata constant delivery by the flui'd puunpis not essential to the proper functioning of the modification here described, as the throw'of the variable orifice 28 should be sufficient to takecare of variation both in dead weight of drill string andinfpump delivery, each of which is immediately reflected in achangein hit pressure. Control of bit pressure will, however, be much more sensitive if the orifice control is not required to compensate a wide variation in Ipump delivery.

When, from any cause, the bit bears too heavilyon the bottom of the hole, the engine 14 slows down and the steam pressure in the portion of pipe 16 which lies below the con-, trol valve 17 correspondingly increases. This increased I pressure is transmitted through pipe 26 to diaphragm 27 which, by its movement thuscaused, partially closes orifice 28. Leakage --fro1n the hydraulic unit being thus restricted, the, piston "8 rises and thus relieves the bit pressure. Y

The basic principle of my'pr'esent invention is as follows. Steam being applied simultaneously,"through a control valve or "of the pump mustbe timed at frequent innfo other pressure reducing device, to an engine I This movement of the piston lifts the bit through such distance as to cause it to revolve more freely, thussettingin train the reverse of the above movements, by which-the bit is slightlylowered. By minute and rapid alteration in the direction of thesem0ve= ments, the bit is fed into-the hole as made, while being. maintained in substantially the lit IQB i most effective contact with the bottom of the hole.

I claim as my invention:

1. An apparatus for controlling the presphragm means and that portion of said steam-pipe situated between said valve and said engine.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I sure exerted by a rotary well-drilling bit on have hereunto subscribed my name this 19th 70 the bottom of the hole being drilled, com-- prising: a steam-actuated engine adapted to rotate said bit; a hydraulic jack adapted to raise and lower said bit; means adapted to force fluid into said ack for raising said hit; an orifice commmunicating with said jack adapted to permit escape of fluid therefrom for lowering said bit; a. steam-actuated means adapted to controlthe area of said orifice, and a means for admitting a flow of steam under pressure to a means of communication between said engine and said orifice-controlling means, whereby said engine is actuated and the area of said orifice is simultaneously controlled.

2. An apparatus for controlling the pressure exerted by a rotary well-drilling bit on the bottom of the hole being drilled, comprising: a steam-actuated engine adapted to rotate said bit; a hydraulic jack adapted to raise and lower said bit; means adapted to force fluid into said jack for raising said bit; an orifice communicating with said jack adapted to permit escape of fluid theref om for lowering said bit; a diaphragm means adapted to control the area of said orifice, and a means for admitting a flow of steam under pressure to a means of communication between said engine and said diaphragm means, whereby said engine is actuated and the area of said orifice is simultaneously controlled.

3. In an apparatus for controlling the feed of a rotary well-drilling bit which includes a steam engine rotating said bit, a pipe supplying steam to said engine, a valve in said pipe, a hydraulic jack raising and lowering said bit, a means for supplying fluid to said jack for raising said bit and an orifice for permitting the escape of fluid from said jack for lowering said bit; a means for controlling the escape of fluid from said jack, comprising: a steam-actuated means adapted to vary the area of said orifice and a means of communication between. said steam-actuated means and that portion of said steam-pipe situated between said valve and said engine.

. 4. In an apparatus for controlling the feed of a rotary well-drilling bit which includes a steam engine rotating said bit. a pipe supplying steam to said engine, a valve in said pipe, a hydraulic jack raising and lowering said bit. a means for supplying fluid to said ack for raising said bit and an orifice for permitting the escape of fluid from said jack for lowering said bit; a means for controlling the escape of fluid from said jack, comprising: a diaphragm means adapted to vary the area of said orifice and a means of communication between said diaday of June, 1929.

PHILIP JONES. 

